MBN is the brand-new cable channel bringing us the vampire-alien-prince-idol-star sitcom Vampire Idol (so awesome, that descriptor), and now it’s got another sitcom in the works: a Friends-esque sitcom titled You Drive Me Crazy, which has just lined up Lee Soo-kyung as one of its leads.

MBN is described as a general-service cable channel (as opposed to one that caters to a specific category, like OCN and movies, for instance), and is not yet in service; it premieres in December and is busily preparing its inaugural programming selections.

You Drive Me Crazy touts itself as “Korea’s first sitcom made in the American-style drama format.” That could mean a lot of things, but I’m hoping it yields a positive result. Perhaps it means it’ll adopt the studio-audience format, although Korean sitcoms like High Kick already make use of canned laughter. Or maybe it means it’s dipping its toes into the single-camera comedy format — although that doesn’t work with the Friends reference, which was multi-camera. Urg, guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

The sitcom will employ a team of three writers (yay — I think more Korean dramas should get onboard with the writers’ room concept, rather than giving script duties to one person) and will be directed by Kim Hee-won; while I can’t find much info on the PD or writers, one of the producers, Lee Jang-soo, is a drama veteran with series like Stairway to Heaven and Road No. 1 under his belt. True, one of those is a tearjerker melodrama and the other is a tragic war epic, but he’s not the writer so I’m not worried yet.

Lee Soo-kyung plays a beautiful office worker with a “unique charm,” who’s one of a mixed group of three who end up living together, and the show tracks the various comic happenings that arise out of their arrangement. Sounds a lot more like Three’s Company than Friends to me. The show, which will run for 120 episodes, will play with the central motif: Can men and women really be just friends? Good question.

I think Lee is the perfect choice for something like this; she’s taken on more dramatic roles lately (Daemul, Loving You a Thousand Times) but she’s got good comic timing and a bubbly personality that works well with comedy. She was cute in Golden Age of the Daughter-in-Law, and I loved her in Soulmate — which, if we’re nitpicking, probably already stole the title of “first American-style sitcom” away from this one, with its single-camera format and editing style. Heck, Soulmate’s plot seems a lot more Friends-like than You Drive Me Crazy, with its cast of four couples and exploration of modern dating.

Not that I’m complaining, mind you. The more cable offerings I hear about, the more excited I get for the evolving K-drama landscape. Change is good, and it’s refreshing to shake up the tried-n-true with new experiments.

You Drive Me Crazy is aiming to match its premiere to the station’s, in early December.

Jun Tae Soo, Ha Ji Won’s younger brother who withdrew from sitcom All My Love due to his assault case finally returns to TV after almost a year in hiatus.

The 27-year-old who gained attention since his appearance in Sungkyungkwan Scandal will be the newest cast added to the MBN sitcom You’re Here, You’re Here, You’re Really Here.

The sitcom which labeled as Korean version of Hollywood’s Friends centers on the unique and trendy talk about love, money and marriage.

Jun Tae Soo will play Kim Kul Joo, a not so clever doctor, the younger brother of Kim Kul Ji (played by Han Jin Hee) and stepbrother of Kim Kul Jong (played by Kang Nam Gil).

Kim Kul Ji is the CEO of Kulji Group while Kim Kul Jong is the advertising manager of the group.

The sitcom also has Lee Soo Kyung and Yoo In Young as the leading ladies.

Regarding with Jun Tae Soo’s comeback, his management said ‘ after his long blank period, we carefully choose his return project. He played some villain roles before so we think it’s better for him if he plays a fun and lights character this time’.